Missouri Highway Patrol Takes Over Security In Ferguson

MATT PEARCE and JOE MOZINGO, Tribune Newspapers

FERGUSON, Mo. — After four nights of tense street confrontations, state and federal authorities stepped in Thursday to curb the aggressive tactics of local police against demonstrators protesting the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon dispatched the state Highway Patrol to take over security in Ferguson, promising "a softer front" to law enforcement after images of police wielding automatic weapons, flash grenades and tear gas drew stunned reactions from throughout the country.

"Ferguson will not be defined as a community that was torn apart by violence, but will be known as a community that pulled together to overcome it," Nixon said at a news conference.

Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is black and grew up in this predominantly black suburb of St. Louis, was tapped to lead the effort. "It means a lot to me personally that we break this cycle of violence," he said.

Later in the day, Johnson joined demonstrators near the scene of previous confrontations stemming from the fatal weekend shooting and exchanged hugs and handshakes with protesters as they passed. Officers stood by with casual demeanors, without visible body armor or rifles.

One man told Johnson that his niece had been hit with tear gas during the demonstrations. "What would you say to her?" the man asked.

"Tell her Capt. Johnson is sorry, and he apologizes."

President Barack Obama weighed in from his vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., saying that he has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who several witnesses said had his hands up when he was killed. "We lost a young man, Michael Brown, in heartbreaking and tragic circumstances," the president said. "He was 18 years old, and his family will never hold Michael in their arms again."

Obama issued a stern admonition to both police and looters.

"There is never an excuse for violence against police or for those who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting," he said.

"There's also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights," he said. The racial dynamic of the city has long been a volatile mix: Two-thirds of residents are black, while police and city officials are predominantly white.

When demonstrations began after the shooting Saturday, the feeling that police viewed residents as foes inflamed anger on the streets, as did officials' refusal to release the name of the officer who shot Brown.

Large protests over the past several days have been mostly peaceful during daylight hours. But after vandals looted 12 businesses Sunday night, officers in military vehicles and riot gear swarmed into neighborhoods, ordering demonstrators to leave.

The officers fired stun grenades, tear gas canisters, bean bags and rubber bullets on those who didn't comply. A small minority of the crowds lobbed bottles, rocks and Molotov cocktails.

Similar clashes were repeated over the next three nights.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has urged the Justice Department to take a stronger role in ending the crisis.

"We need to demilitarize the situation," she said. "This kind of response by the police has become the problem instead of the solution."

At a church in Florissant, a town neighboring Ferguson, residents expressed their outrage about Brown's killing. But they said they also were concerned about the aggressive police presence in the area.

"If you go out, you better be wearing the armor of God," said Sierra Smith, 27, who lives near the place where Brown was shot.

Tremaine Combs, 32, said he took his son to Walgreens, when his son spotted a police officer driving by.

"He was so terrified that he started crying, and he's only 5 years old," Combs said.

Plumes of tear gas have appeared nearly every night, enforcing the picture of suburban Ferguson as a battleground.

Paul Wertheimer, a crowd control expert who runs Crowd Management Strategies, a consulting firm, said that chemical irritants can be controversial, but are sometimes needed. "It's not the worst thing you can do to people."

Johnson, of the Highway Patrol, did not say whether his officers would resort to using it if necessary.